Take a look back to old photographs from one hundred years ago and despite the fact that water was available, it was surprising just how little those people worried about dirt. Although it is now said that children were more resilient to germs back then, having built up a natural immunity because of their constant exposure, there was still too much disease spread from bad hygiene habits and close living quarters.

Today, the pendulum has swung in the opposite direction with many being obsessed with cleanliness and now we are told it is impossible to build up our own immunity. But where do you draw the line? It doesn't take much common sense to realise that while it's ok for children to play outside in the dirt they should wash their hands before eating to eradicate any untoward germs they may have picked up outside.

But the purpose of this article is to look at cleanliness on a much larger scale than kiddies dirty hands. Take, for example, the nation's hospitals. Overseeing hospital cleanliness was once the duty of matron and nobody would dare cross her, to the point where every inch of hospital surface was scrubbed to within an inch of its life! Hospitals were spotless and a place you could trust to go and recover from whatever ailed you.

These days, many people are afraid to go into hospital for fear of developing the MRSA bug. This bug is resistant to drugs and can prove fatal. It is spread through bad hygiene to vulnerable people in hospital and has been on the increase since funds for cleaning by outside contractors was scaled down to the bare bones. The government have been ploughing money into the NHS to clean up its act by bringing in more contractors that are carrying out thorough deep steam cleaning sweeps of hospital wards and rooms to try to eliminate the dangers of these super bugs.

So what is involved in a steam cleaning process that makes it any better than other methods of cleaning? What is so wrong with a mop and a bucket of bleach and water?

Well, for a start it is a natural process using natural sources. Water is used to create a vapour that reaches temperatures of up to 260 degrees Fahrenheit. This is hot enough to kill dust mites, viruses, mold and fungi. This is not only good news for people in hospital but also for those who wish to use steam cleaning in their homes. It gets rid of many allergy causes and sanitises the environment, deodorising at the same time.

Steam cleaning loosens ground in dirt that is absorbed into a towel at the same time. No chemicals are used in steam cleaning and this means that it is the most environmentally friendly method of cleaning anything from clothing, carpets, car interiors and soft furnishings to commercial kitchens and hospitals.

Another aspect to put steam cleaning above other methods is the fact that any soft furnishings will dry very quickly. The longer a cleaned surface is left damp, the more chance there is of mold spores growing and so the whole process would be a waste of time.

Many people have a cupboard stocked full of artificial cleaning products and while we may feel that keeping our homes clean is good for us, the impact that all these products have when poured into the water system, simply do us no good at all. It is far better to use an ecologically friendly water based steam cleaning process than any other.